This invention relates to electric steam irons and in particular to an electric steam iron including a feature which enables the iron to steam when the iron is held upright or in the vertical plane.
Standard steam irons are designed to cease steaming when the iron is placed in a vertical position on its heel rest to avoid continuous steaming in the resting position. The iron is frequently placed on its heel rest during pauses in ironing so that garments can be repositioned or that spray or starch may be applied thereto. Continuous steaming when the iron is on its heel rest wastes water in the reservoir. Some irons heretofore known employ a mechanism to insure that the valve communicating the water reservoir with the steam chamber is closed when the iron is placed on its heel rest.
Some irons employ a pressure feed system to obtain vertical steaming. Typically a gravity feed system cannot be used since the valve communicating the water reservoir with the steam chamber is positioned too far towards the front of the iron for a vertical feed system to function. Pressure feed systems are relatively costly and difficult to assemble in the rather confined space formed within the iron's water reservoir.
It is therefore an object of this invention to include a vertical steaming feature in an electric iron operable when the user desires to steam a garment or other similar product positioned in a vertical plane. The vertical steaming feature is overridden when the iron is placed on its heel rest to discontinue the introduction of water into the steam chamber.